Black Rose

CHAPTER 17

Alexei Vysotsky finished reading the report from Valentina Antipov, AKA Valentina Rosetti, and felt the tightness around his forehead that meant his blood pressure was going up. He took a deep breath and reached for the bottle of Moskovskaya vodka he kept in his desk drawer.

Gutenberg, he thought. You son of a whore.

Valentina's report didn't identify what it was that Gutenberg had stolen from the "Russians" but Vysotsky was convinced it was the sample case taken from the dead hands of Major Kaminsky. What else could it be? Alexei had to admit it had taken real balls to snatch the case on Russian soil from under the watchful eyes of a Spetsnaz squad. It meant that he'd better not make the mistake of underestimating Gutenberg as an enemy.

Alexei was under a lot of pressure to find whoever was responsible for the raid on the train. It didn't help that he was convinced someone in his own organization, someone high up, had told Gutenberg where and when the samples were being transferred. But who? Who had the knowledge? It was a very short list.

The Director of SVR, Boris Vishinski. His deputy, Vladamir Kamarov. The Interior Minister and probably the president. Possibly an aide, someone in Kamarov's or Vishinski's office who had seen the memo about the transfer. Major Kaminsky himself. If Kaminsky was the traitor he had already paid for his treachery, but Alexei didn't believe it was him. The only other person who knew was himself.

If he couldn't prove it was someone else, he'd end up getting the blame. The Soviet Union was gone but the old ways of dealing with difficult internal problems were returning. In this case, blame could mean a bullet in the back of his head.

Vysotsky hoped it was an aide who was the traitor, but in his heart he knew it was one of his two bosses, Kamarov or Vishinski. It would be an unpopular accusation. He needed solid proof and he needed it soon, before the finger pointed at him.

He poured a water glass full of vodka and downed half of it and felt some of the tension leave his body. He always thought better after a drink or two. One of the reasons he'd reached his present high position within the ranks of SVR was his ability to drink and stay focused when the vodka was flowing. Others became careless, they made mistakes. Not Vysotsky.

Vysotsky considered why someone would betray his country. The usual reasons were depressingly common. Money. A woman. Anger at a slight or failure to gain recognition or promotion. Belief in another's ideology. Misguided idealism. A sense of secret power.

All of those were good reasons, if any reason for treachery was a good one. But which of those, if any, applied to his two chief suspects? Alexei took out a pad and began making a list.

Both men had power, public and secret, and plenty of it. There was only so much power to be had and they had both gone about as far as they would. Kamarov could become Director of SVR in the event Vishinski stepped down or was removed, but that was the extent of it and was uncertain at best. Power couldn't be ruled out as a motive, but how did the theft of the plague samples further that aim? It wasn't immediately apparent. Vysotsky put a question mark next to power.

Neither man had any reason to feel slighted by the system. They had succeeded where many had failed. It was likely there was a personal grudge or two in their histories but enough of a grudge to betray the nation that had rewarded them? Vysotsky didn't think so. He drew a line through failure.

Kamarov was widowed and was not involved with anyone, as far as Alexei knew. Men like Kamarov and Vishinski were routinely surveilled. If Kamarov was seeing someone, it would have been discovered. Vishinski was married, well satisfied with a vetted mistress on the side that he kept in an elegant apartment in Moscow. Alexei crossed a woman off his list as a possible motive.

Neither man had shown the least deviation in political correctness, but such things could be kept hidden. Who knew what a man really thought? Both men were hard liners, like Alexei himself. He knew both men well and he didn't think either one would be tempted by the illusions of the West. It was unlikely, a real stretch. Vysotsky crossed off idealism as a possibility. These were not idealistic men.

That left money. Neither man had any particular problems with money. Kamarov's uncle was one of the hated oligarchs and his favorite nephew lacked for nothing. Vishinski was well off by Russian standards, even by Western ones. Their positions entitled them to many perks and benefits.

Even so, Vysotsky thought, for some there is never enough..

He decided to dig into the finances of the two men. He'd have to be careful. If they discovered what he was doing, the hammer would fall. It was the nature of life in the circles of Russian power. It had always been that way, since the days of the czars.

Alexei drained the rest of the vodka. Then he took out a lighter and set fire to the list he had just made. He dropped the burning paper in an ashtray and watched it curl and blacken.

He poured another glass. As he sipped, he had an uneasy thought. What would happen if the disease got loose? Gutenberg must know what he had and only a madman would unleash such a terrible weapon. One of the reasons the Korean lab had been raided was to take that potential out of the hands of North Korea's unstable leader. At least, that's what Vysotsky had been told. The plague was safer in Russian hands. If it added to the Federation's arsenal of bio-weapons, so much the better.

He put the thought aside. Time to begin looking for the traitor.